Door Maintenance in Los Angeles, CA

Ensure your new furnishings last for years to come. Practice good window and door maintenance in Los Angeles, CA, with help from B&B Doors. Here, we’ve collected the best maintenance practices for your convenience. Read on to learn what you can do to preserve your purchases’ quality and appearance, or talk to a member of our team for even more detailed information.

Storage and Handling

Doors shall always be stored flat and in clean, dry surroundings to protect them from dirt, water, and abuse from weather. If stored for long periods, doors must be sealed with a non-water-based sealer or primer.

Doors shall not be exposed to excessive moisture, heat, dryness, or direct sunlight.

Doors shall always be handled with clean hands or while wearing clean gloves.

Doors shall be lifted and carried, not dragged across one another or on the ground.

Field Finishing

Prior to finishing, ensure that the building atmosphere is dried to a normal, interior relative humidity. Also ensure that the doors have been allowed to equalize to stable moisture content. It is imperative that the doors be sealed within 10 days of delivery.

Prior to finishing, remove all handling marks, raised grain, and other undesirable blemishes by completely block sanding all surfaces with a 100 to 150 fine grit abrasive.

Certain species of wood, particularly oak, contain chemicals that react unfavorably with certain finishes. This can cause dark spots; therefore, wherever possible, the species and finish combination should be tested prior to finishing the doors.

To guard against warping, avoid using dark stains or paints on door surfaces exposed to sunlight.

To prevent blemish magnification, avoid using extremely dark stains on wood species that are lighter in color.

Water-based sealer or prime coats should not be used. Water-based topcoats should only be used on surfaces that have been completely sealed with a non-water-based sealer or primer. The seal should consist of at least 2 - 3 coasts of 95% polyurethane or 95% varathene. Do not use penetrating oil finishes unless the surface is coated with a urethane product.

A first coat of a thinned sanding sealer, followed by light block sanding, will minimize subsequent handling marks and promote the uniformity of subsequent stain coats.

All bare wood surfaces must be sealed, including top and bottom rails (these are end-grains and tend to be much more porous). Furthermore, all lock and wheel cavities must be sealed. All glazed doors must have finish lapped onto glass for proper sealing (1/32 of an inch).

To achieve the desired color uniformity, finish build, and gloss, as well as reduce the frequency of refinishing, obtain and follow the finish manufacture's recommendations.

Be sure the door surface in question is satisfactory in both smoothness and color after each coat.

Maintenance

Most finishes on exterior doors deteriorate relatively quickly. In order for exterior doors to continue receiving the protection required, inspect the condition of exterior finishes at least once a year and refinish as often as needed to maintain the protective integrity of the finish.

Insure that the doors continue to swing freely, do not bind in the frame, and that all hardware remains functional.

Contact our team to get the answers to your questions about window and door maintenance. We proudly serve clients in Los Angeles, CA, and the surrounding areas.